Boundaries, Identity and the Public Realm

The third edition of Art for Tomorrow took place from March 10-13, 2017 at the W Doha Hotel & Residences, Qatar. The event attracted over 400 world-renownedart and cultural influencers from more than 35 countries, including museum directors, gallerists, curators, auction houses, collectors, entrepreneurs, investors, artists, architects, designers and government officials, as well as corporate and civic leaders.

With interviews and solution-oriented discussions led by award-winning New York Times journalists, the conference investigated the issues that occupy the territory between art and public life. New boundaries, where and why art follows the rules or challenges them, and art's role in creating and influencing personal, corporate, urban and national identities were all explored. The event also examined the role of art as a catalyst for economic growth and development, as well as a mechanism for city or corporate branding.

Much more than a conference, Art for Tomorrow 2017 offered an all inclusive experiential dimension, including Masterpieces of Islamic Coinage in Doha, an exhibition of the six most important Islamic gold coin collections in the world; Private tours of the Fire Station Artist in Residence Picasso-Giacometti Exhibition; Al Riwaq Gallery; Museum of Islamic Art; Katara Art Center; and Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, plus live auctions at AlBahie Auction House and Richard Serra desert installation. Artists representing leading international galleries such as Faig Ahmed also exhibited at the START Doha Art Fair. For all future registration inquiries, please contact registration@artfortomorrow.com.

Testimonials

“I have not been to as interesting an event in many, many years. I felt every moment was worthwhile and that even things that seemed at first not to be my topic ended up being really interesting and informative. I particularly loved Christo and Robert Wilson, but also found the sessions on the Brazilian art park and the collectors fascinating. It was all so well organized and well-run.”The Rt. Hon. Adrienne Clarkson, 26th Governor General of Canada (1999-2005)

“An extraordinary few days. It was a rare mix of genius and practical insight – and a privilege to be in the same room as Christo and Robert Wilson.”Chris Michaels, Head of Digital and Publishing, The British Museum

“I certainly enjoyed the experience of meeting so many incredibly knowledgeable members within [the] arts sector and beyond.”Vilma Jurkute, Director, Alserkal Avenue

“It was a great introduction to Doha and I thought the conference itself and the tours were very well-organized. It was a great platform to meet people and I look forward to the next one!”Talenia Phua Gajardo, Founder/Director, The Artling

Agenda

Private guided tour of QM Al Riwaq which presents a retrospective of Dia Azzawi, a monograph of one of the most renowned modern artists of the Arab world.

6:00 PM

Welcome Reception and Preview of START Doha Art Fair

Art for Tomorrow 2017 will commence with a welcome reception on Level 29 at the W Hotel & Residences, including a special preview evening of the START Doha Art Fair (Saatchi Gallery - Parallel Contemporary Art). All delegates are welcome to attend.

Saturday,
Mar. 11, 2017

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START Doha Art Fair

W Doha Hotel & Residences is all set to play proud host to contemporary art fair START Doha that is being held in collaboration with the third edition of The New York Times ‘Art for Tomorrow’ Conference. Spread over the hotel’s 29th floor, the exhibition that is open for the public to partake in will see the START fair taking over the raw, industrial space from March 10 to 14.

START Doha Art Fair will focus on the overarching theme of The New York Times ‘Art for Tomorrow’ Conference, which is ‘Boundaries, Identity and the Public Realm’. It hopes to showcase these ideas through the work of inspiring contemporary artists in an organic cross-cultural exchange. START Doha benefits from the successes of START London, now entering its fourth year, and from the expertise of Saatchi Gallery CEO Nigel Hurst and leading artist and curator Mahmoud Obaidi who will both be in attendance.

The participating galleries and artists are included by invitation only, and feature an engaging collection of 11 solo artist presentations.

Opening 09:00am - 09:00pm

8:45 AM

Welcome Address

Speaker: Arthur
O. Sulzberger, Chairman and Publisher, The New York Times CompanyModerator: Achilles Tsaltas, Vice President, International Conferences, The New York Times

9:00 AM

KEYNOTE PANEL: Cultural Futures in the Gulf: Projects and Proposals

Museums
and galleries are springing up all over the Gulf, celebrating Arab heritage
both ancient and modern. Should Gulf Cooperation Council states collaborate or
compete in this new cultural landscape?

Museums have been facing up to the digital challenge for a generation now. But once they have
mastered the digitization of collections, what comes next?

Speaker:Chris Michaels, Head of Digital and Publishing, The British Museum

Moderator: Robin Pogrebin, Culture Reporter, The New York Times

10:00 AM

The Museum and National Identity

The artistic director of Lisbon's new 'signature’ Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology explain the chemistry by which a museum's collections, as well as its design, contribute to a nation’s sense of itself.

Artist Liu Bolin challenges his audience by literally disappearing into the background – perhaps painting himself into supermarket shelving laden with products, cityscapes or slogans. "It’s my way to convey all the anxiety I feel for human beings," he says.

Speaker:Liu Bolin, Artist

Moderator:Robin Pogrebin, Culture ReporterThe New York Times

11:00 AM

Coffee Break

11:45 AM

Boundaries and Identity #1: The Refugee

Yannis
Behrakis documents the movements of refugees and migrants, dispossessed of
almost everything, including their national identity. In creating such images,
where does professional detachment end and emotional involvement begin?

Multi-disciplinary master of many arts Robert Wilson discusses his inspirations, his collaborations and his commitment to supporting artists from many cultures and backgrounds, now under severe political pressure.

Speaker: Robert Wilson, Theater and Visual Artist

Moderator:Farah Nayeri, Culture Writer, The New York Times

1:00 PM

Lunch

2:45 PM

Private Tour

Private guided tour of the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA). An iconic landmark of
the Doha skyline, the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) features masterpieces from diverse societies, both secular and
spiritual. This tour also includes the exclusive premiere of the “Masterpieces of Islamic Coinage in Doha” exhibition. Showcasing the six most important Islamic gold coins, this exhibition tells a story of the rise of Arab identity and the formation of the Islamic world.

6:00 PM

Private Viewing of Picasso-Giacometti Exhibition (Invitation Only)

Private guided tour of the first exhibition in the Middle East showcasing the work of two of the most important artists of the 20th century, Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) and Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966).

Curated by Catherine Grenier, director of the Fondation Giacometti, with associate curators, Serena Bucalo-Mussely and Virginie Perdrisot, the exhibition brings together 120 works drawn from the collections of the Musée national Picasso and the Fondation Giacometti in Paris, as well as exceptional loans from French and other international collections, covering paintings, sculptures, sketches, photographs and interviews with the artists.

Venue: Fire Station Artist in Residence, Doha, Qatar

8:00 PM

Delegate Dinner (Invitation Only)

Art for Tomorrow delegates are invited to join this exclusive private dinner reception for the opportunity to network with speakers, moderators, conference delegates, sponsors and START Solo exhibiting artists. Please note attendance to the Delegate Dinner is by invitation only.

W Doha Hotel & Residences is all set to play proud host to contemporary art fair START Doha that is being held in collaboration with the third edition of The New York Times ‘Art for Tomorrow’ Conference. Spread over the hotel’s 29th floor, the exhibition that is open for the public to partake in will see the START fair taking over the raw, industrial space from March 10 to 14.

START Doha Art Fair will focus on the overarching theme of The New York Times ‘Art for Tomorrow’ Conference, which is ‘Boundaries, Identity and the Public Realm’. It hopes to showcase these ideas through the work of inspiring contemporary artists in an organic cross-cultural exchange. START Doha benefits from the successes of START London, now entering its fourth year, and from the expertise of Saatchi Gallery CEO Nigel Hurst and leading artist and curator Mahmoud Obaidi who will both be in attendance.

The participating galleries and artists are included by invitation only, and feature an engaging collection of 11 solo artist presentations.

Opening 09:00am - 09:00pm

9:00 AM

New Models, New Museums, New Markets

The world-class collection in the 5000-acre Inhotim art park, the brainchild of collector Bernardo Paz, is a botanical as well as an artistic marvel. Chief curator and artistic director Allan Schwartzman discusses the challenges of managing such a collection and gives a glimpse into its future.

'Public' art can connect people to place, or express national and local identity, or provoke reaction. Or all of these. Is the civic or national role valid when the audience hasn't asked for the experience?

‘Nothing we see is static any more,’ says Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele. ‘It can always be changed, altered, remixed and reimagined with the help of technology.’ Artists practicing at the intersection of social
media and traditional processes, in projects such as #GucciGram, present their work directly to their audience in a subversion of the traditional indirect relationship between artist / curator / viewer.

Panelists:Amalia Ulman, ArtistCao Fei, Artist

Moderator:Farah Nayeri, Culture Writer,The New York Times

11:00 AM

Coffee Break

11:20 AM

An Artist's Roots

Three artists from very different countries, and with very different approaches to expressing their relationship to their own national culture, compare notes.

Panelists:

Faig Ahmed, ArtistSubodh Gupta, Artist

Barthélémy Toguo, Artist

Moderator: Robin Pogrebin, Culture Reporter, The New York Times

11:50 AM

The Museum and the Dispossessed

At the far end of the urban scale, the Design Museum of Dharavi is a pushcart-mounted mobile display of handicrafts, the work of artists and craftsmen in the world’s largest ‘informal settlement’ in Mumbai. The founders explain the idea and its social and economic impact on this challenging environment

Christo: Christo and Jeanne-Claude – Reimagining the Public Realm. THE FLOATING PIERS, LAKE ISEO, ITALY, 2014-2016; and A WORK IN PROGRESS: THE MASTABA, ABU DHABI

The landscape (and cityscape) artist par excellence creates environments on such a gargantuan scale as to provoke the most pressing questions about art and the human experience. A rare opportunity to hear – and ask questions of – the brave and controversial owner of a magnificent, uncompromising imagination.

Speaker: Christo, Artist

Introduced by: Roger Cohen, Op-Ed Columnist, The New York Times

1:00 PM

Lunch

3:00 PM

Private Tours

Option 1 - Private tour of Richard Serra's world famous East-West/West-East sculptural installation in the Brouq Nature Reserve of the Qatari desert.Option 2 - Private guided tour of Katara Cultural Village that includes art galleries, Katara Art Center and QM Gallery Katara, plus the chance to experience a live art auction of islamic and oriental paintings at AlBahie Auction House.

Monday,
Mar. 13, 2017

-

START Doha Art Fair

W Doha Hotel & Residences is all set to play proud host to contemporary art fair START Doha that is being held in collaboration with the third edition of The New York Times ‘Art for Tomorrow’ Conference. Spread over the hotel’s 29th floor, the exhibition that is open for the public to partake in will see the START fair taking over the raw, industrial space from March 10 to 14.

START Doha Art Fair will focus on the overarching theme of The New York Times ‘Art for Tomorrow’ Conference, which is ‘Boundaries, Identity and the Public Realm’. It hopes to showcase these ideas through the work of inspiring contemporary artists in an organic cross-cultural exchange. START Doha benefits from the successes of START London, now entering its fourth year, and from the expertise of Saatchi Gallery CEO Nigel Hurst and leading artist and curator Mahmoud Obaidi who will both be in attendance.

The participating galleries and artists are included by invitation only, and feature an engaging collection of 11 solo artist presentations.

Opening 09:00am - 09:00pm

9:00 AM

KEYNOTE PANEL: Women in Islam: The Contemporary Artist

Women artists from the Islamic tradition frequently concern themselves with visions of the identity of womanhood or femininity, and tackle or subvert those ideas with a mixture of irreverence and deep sensitivity.

Heritage protection is at the top of the Unesco agenda, and nowhere is it more urgent and significant than the Middle East. The surprise question is not: ‘How can we protect or reconstruct our broken legacies?’, but ‘Should we reconstruct them at all?’

Rules written and unwritten; expression, oppression, and pressure; private sedition and the public realm. All converge in the heat of the censorship question, which is, on the face of it an easy one to answer when it comes to artistic expression. But is it? Be prepared for some surprises.

The
creative design director of De La Rue, maker
of 40 percent of the world's currency notes, shares insights with an Islamic numismatic
specialist into the impact of money on national, ethnic and even religious
identity.

Private guided tour of Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Artwhich celebrates the
modern and the contemporary, showcasing art created in Qatar and the Middle
East, as well as works produced by the international Arab diaspora.

6:30 PM

Private Tour

Live auction: Opportunity to visit independently, one of the regions leading auction houses, AlBahie, to experience a live auction of oriental carpets and rugs.